Almost 2 years!

In 48 hours, Mr. M and I head off to the great state of California to enjoy San Fransisco and wine country as we celebrate two great years on Monday. We have averything planned out down to the nickle so we stay on budget. It will be nice to take a break from reality and relax. Now cue Uncle Jesse and the theme music...

This morning, I discovered that our local newspaper made us the feature couple of their ad for engagement and wedding announcements. The timing of this is perfect!

My how time has flown by...

God Works In Mysterious Ways

{via}

On the way home after having dinner at a friend's house, I mentioned to Mr. M that maybe I should take a break from school next semester. Even though we haven't heard back from the urologist {we meet with him tomorrow}, I thought it would be best for our debt snowball and budget if I stopped school all together since we may have a huge financial hurdle coming our way.

My husband replied with a very kind "we'll figure it out" and that was the end of our money conversation. When we got home, I checked the mail and saw an envelope from my sorority's foundation.  To be honest, I thought it was a letter requesting money and I had planned to throw it in the trash but for some reason, I opened it.  Instead it was a HUGE blessing as the letter stated that I would receive a $5,000 scholarship for the 2011-2012 year.  HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!

Here I was questioning if I'm really meant to stay in school to pursue my Masters and God responded with a big fat "Yes!".  No matter what the results are from the urologist, I can still go to school for the next year on my one class a semester schedule.  If we find out that Mr. M has to only take a pill or something else that isn't too costly {like the $15K session of IVF} then I might be able to afford two classes in the Fall and Spring semester.

God is so good!

Conversations



{via}

 Last week I did ask my boss about a raise for my position. My job is a government job and so our pay is public and listed by pay grades. When the job was posted, it became apparent to myself {and the free world} that the job was in a grade a few higher than mine. Even though the range of pay is different by a few thousands, there are perks with each grade so it is important.

The final straw was on Tuesday when I was asked several times by different people about the job and it became apparent that someone with less experience/less education had a strong possibility of being hired. Why? They could pay them less and still fufill the role.

My other reason is that the new person would be taking some of my responsibilities. If they're willing to pay that person more to do what I do, then I feel I should receive the same level of pay. The conversation went well as I stuck to the facts - I've worked here for 5 years and during the time accomplished A,B and C. I'm pursuing a Masters in this field {that they are paying some for} and bring additional knowledge to the table than I did 5 years ago. We'll see how this will pay out and I do hope for the best.

A Ray of Sunlight

Last night, Mr. M and I stayed up comparing health insurance plans to see if his upcoming urologist appointment would be covered by insurance. Since most of this lingo is over my head {like way over}, we decided that he would call his doctor's office this morning to see what the worse case scenario would be if we had to cover the visit.

I also met with my HR department head and told her our dilemma. Her response, "you're my first infertility case” and of course I had to laugh...great…we're both a little clueless. Luckily, this looks to work out in my favor since she wants to learn about the process, doesn't assume the role of a know-it-all and genuinely wants to help. I've had two calls from her and an e-mail since our meeting on how she's contacting the insurance company for us to help with the bills. Her actions have made me feel a little bit better.

We've only told two people about this so far - Mr. M's co-worker E who has gone through the same process two years ago and my HR director. Our initial plan was to wait a few weeks, process this news and then tell our family. That plan has been scrapped as we are meeting with my parents tomorrow and his family over the weekend. I fear that they think we're going to tell them that we're pregnant and not the other way around. A little nervous about this because I’m not sure how they’re going to react initially.

The positive side is that we do have a good team of friends around us {when we do start telling people} that are knowledgeable in the infertility process as well as health benefits. My mother works as a benefits specialist for a school district and we have a friend who just finished IVF that handles health care administration. When I count up the amount of infertile couples I know, I run out of fingers so I have a group to go to that understands what I'm going through and hopefully can guide me through some part of this process.

I still cry randomly and will need to work on that but I'm feeling much better than I did a few days ago.

Abnormal

So Thursday, Mr. M and I were hit with a blow to our debt snowball. Over the past year we have been TTC and finally decided to go to the doctor. After a couple rounds of tests, we were told that we are “abnormal” as our doctor so eloquently put it and have a 1% change of having a baby naturally.

We were referred to an urologist and have a meeting with him next Wednesday. He will determine if we’re even eligible for ICSI, a higher form of IVF. If we not a considered a “good candidate” for ICSI then our other option is adoption.

Frankly, the last four days have been emotional. It wasn’t until today that we started coming to terms with the financial side of the process as we received our first two bills totally around $800. I’m quickly trying to get up to speed on our insurance coverage to know that we have to pay for and what we should appeal. It’s so overwhelming and I’m trying really hard to take the emotion part out of it and look solely on the financial side of our…well problem.

We wanted to be debt free when we had our first child and in my Type-A land, were on track to do so by the end of this year. Now, I feel that we’re going to have to make a very hard decision of waiting until all of our debt is cleared up and I start this process at the age of 31 or go full force now. With age being an issue in getting pregnant and staying pregnant, I fear that waiting will only make the problem worse.

Oh what to do…

What Would You Do?



{via}



Today my office announced that they are officially hiring a new position.  At first, I though this was great idea since we do need the help but then I saw how much it paid.  The position calls for 5 or less years of experience and will pay more than I make. At the end of this month, I will have seven years with five being at my current employer.



So now I'm stuck. I don't want to apply for this position but I would like the income or should I go to my boss, tell her my issue and ask for a bump in salary?  When I spoke about it to Mr. M, he had the same response - "I have no idea"...awesome. So, what would you do?

I can't make this stuff up...

We are without power again. Seriously - twice in a little over a month?  This time, we were smart and unloaded the refrigerator and freezer into coolers. The plan is to store the food at Mr. M's work until the power comes on which could be Sunday.

{via}

I used to enjoy a good storm and love to fall asleep to the sound of rain. Now, I'm up and full of anxiety fearing the worst and praying that we don't lose power.
My, how times have change.

California Or Bust?

{via}

What an insane week. I had an art installation downtown and my final exam all on the same day so my world was a tad nuts.

Now that both of those tasks are over, I can now focus on something fun like our anniversary trip. Late last year, I won a free round trip ticket and we have decide to use it for the vacation.  This is one of the few things that I won't budge on. Call me childish, selfish, etc. but I really feel that we don't take a week to unplug and break the daily cycle, we'll get burned out.

So now we're trying to plan a trip to California on a $2,000 budget  which is a good bit harder than I thought it would be to coordinate. Last year, we went a week to Florida on $1,700 so I know we can book a fun tip on a small budget.

Any tips you all would like to share? Are there cheaper areas of California than others?

My theme for this week.

This week I have a monster of a project to finish at work by Friday and my final exam for class is due on Thursday. Not sure how often I'll post this week but I'm trying to not get too bogged down by stress. Daily, I remind myself that it does no one any good to run around like your hair is on fire.